lad

noun

ˈlad How to pronounce lad (audio)
Synonyms of ladnext
1
: a male person of any age between early boyhood and maturity : boy, youth
2
: fellow, chap

Synonyms

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Examples of lad in a Sentence

Life was hard when I was a lad. Well, lad, I hope you won't make the same mistake again! He's a good lad at heart. They can't treat us like that, can they, lads?!
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Most fatefully, one night when Alden was a lad, his mom drove him home while drunk. — Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 24 Mar. 2025 While Best was too cool, and Charlton too straight, Law was the cheeky and abrasive lad, forever grateful to be on the pitch and giving everything. — Sam Pilger, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2025 Ford’s actually relatively locked-in as the gruff but supportive Colonel Graff training the impressionable Ender (Asa Butterfield), who has to save the universe as all lads in these types of films tend to do. — Tim Grierson, Vulture, 18 Feb. 2025 Clearly, a tiny minority of lads will make it but nearly all will be a way of sourcing a cut of a government education grant … Anybody seen anything worth reading on this? — Stuart James, The Athletic, 17 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for lad

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ladde

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of lad was in the 14th century

Rhymes for lad

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Browse Nearby Words

lacy
lad
lad's-love
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Cite this Entry

“Lad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lad. Accessed 7 Apr. 2025.

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